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Man charged with killing MN mother, nephew

The Hennepin County Attorney's office has charged a 22-year-old man in the stabbing deaths of his mother and a nephew Monday in a north Minneapolis home.

Ishmael Roberts was charged Wednesday in Hennepin County court with two counts of second-degree murder.

According to the criminal complaint, a witness awoke in the house and saw a man wearing a mask and dark clothing stabbing the woman. As he ran from the house to call 911, the witness said he heard the boy screaming. Police recovered a sheath for a sword at the scene.

Roberts apparently hadn't spoken with his mother in two years, according to Hennepin County Attorney Mike Freeman, who added the it's unclear what Roberts' motive could have been.

"We asked him one question: 'What was this about with your family?' And he said, as is his constitutional right, 'I don't want to talk,'" said Freeman. "We may never know, because he clearly -- and we absolutely support his right not to share things."

Freeman said there are indications that Roberts may have a mental illness, but prosecutors don't have "anything concrete." Roberts was arrested in Iowa on Monday night and transported to the Hennepin County Jail.

The victims have not been identified by authorities, but the Star Tribune reports they are Roberts' mother, 57-year-old Beatrice Wilson, and her 14-year-old grandson Peter.